The Letter

Albus' owl was very fast, but his letter became very long and was therefore not finished until around noon. Albus wasn't sure that the letter would arrive at the Ministry in time, so he decided to send it home. His main concern was to refute the lies about MacAllister, whom he had called a friend several times in the letters to his parents. What would they think if they now read what the Daily Prophet wrote about him? They just had to believe that he had fallen into bad company. They would worry. He also devoted a long paragraph to the behaviour of the other houses, especially the Gryffindors. He did his best to describe the wave of hatred he had felt:

... and it was the Gryffindors who started it, I saw it clearly! The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws only allowed them to drag them along. You cannot imagine; suddenly they seemed to be no longer human at all, and to have turned into monsters, or into one huge monster. Our first-years girls were crying with fear, but they did not care, they kept screaming Death Eaters, Death Eaters until Professor McGonagall silenced them. I think five more minutes and they would have killed us. We Slytherins now take good care of each other, and no one goes through the house alone anymore, only in groups with older ones. Thus, nothing will happen to us, but it's no fun. And all this because of this lying Prophet! That Prantice is blathering on about a war, and here at Hogwarts it has already begun.

No matter what the Daily Prophet writes about Slytherin, don't believe a word they say! I vouch for Slytherin, and especially for Roy MacAllister! To be honest, though, I think Aunt Hermione is fine with the newspaper lying and hatemongering like this. I even think that it was her who incited the Gryffindors, at least she visited them in their common room yesterday. It's as if she were obssessed. I have seen her, she is not like she used to be, and I have heard that she said something very nasty to Mr Higrave. She said Roy and his friends were a "plague" to be "destroyed root and branch". I know she is not actually like she talks, but I am afraid of her. Dad, you are the Chief Auror, could it be that Aunt Hermione is under a curse or a spell? Please, please, take this seriously, I'm not just talking. She is your best friend and mine too. Please take care of her!

It is very late now, I will send another letter as soon as possible.

Love

Albus

P.S.: Bernie Wildfellow is now a Slytherin.

It was good that Albus had his own owl and did not have to resort to school owls, because he was one of the last to arrive at the owlery where only a few private owls of students were still sitting on their perches. Most of them had flown out because the many letters from the Slytherins had been sent almost simultaneously. Some school owls were still there, but they looked a bit decrepit. As always, Albus first stroked his Athena, then attached the thick roll of parchment to her talons and implored her:

"Fly home as fast as you can!"

She nodded as if she understood, spread her wings and flew away.

Albus would probably have written less drastically if he had been aware of how his letter would affect his mother. When Harry at last got out of the fireplace at home at around half past six and a completely distraught Ginny – unusual for her – flung her arms around his neck, weeping uncontrollably, he knew a letter must have arrived from Albus, because by late afternoon some of his Ministry colleagues who had children in Slytherin had already received owls from them. Draco had come into Harry's office with a stony face and had put Scorpius' letter on his desk without saying a word. Scorpius had written relatively succinctly and soberly, but you could see that his hand had been trembling while he wrote. Draco and Harry would probably never become best friends, but this time one concerned father came to another, and both had spoken to each other, long, low and worried.

So he was prepared for a lot when Ginny handed him Albus' letter with shaking hands, but when he read it, he became visibly paler. This letter was much more detailed and shocking than Scorpius'. When Harry had finished, he laid it on the table and they both stared at it, Harry stunned and speechless, Ginny sobbing over and over again.

"What's Hermione doing?" asked Ginny finally, trying hard to regain her composure. "The other day at the station she told Ron not to turn the children against each other, and now she's doing it herself? And then in such a way that my son has to fear for his life? She is inciting children into a war against each other!"

"I don't think it was her, it was the Daily Prophet."

Ginny, gradually getting back her normal self, looked at her husband with a sneer.

"Tell me, my dearest, how naive are you allowed to be as an Auror? I know well how this paper works!" She sometimes wrote sports reports for the Daily Prophet and knew the editorial staff. "Northwood wouldn't print anything Hermione doesn't approve of. What is written in this paper, you can safely take as an official statement of the Ministry."

Harry knew she was right.

"Hermione also thinks I'm very naive," he said. "She summoned me to her office this morning and accused me of not doing enough against Death Eaters. When I then said that I didn't know anything about Death Eaters and that if they existed, they would have to violate laws before the Aurors could take action on them, she tore strips off me. Imagine, once she even called me 'Potter'. She rubbed in Albus' friendship with this MacAllister to me as a proof of how naive I was."

"Do you think ... Do you think there might be something to what Albus says – that she might be under a curse?"

"I've got no evidence of that," he said – and wanted to bite his tongue.

"Evidence!" yelled Ginny. "Can't you leave the Auror in your office even now? I'm not asking for your damned evidence; I'm asking for what you feel!"

Harry swallowed.

"Well, Albus is quite right, she has really changed lately. Sure, she was shocked at how strong the Slytherins' opposition to her still is. On the other hand ... and this is something I can only say to you alone and in confidence: Since she has been appointed Minister, she has become more and more autocratic, arrogant, intolerant, paranoid and unscrupulous. Whether it's really a curse in the true sense or simply the curse of power, as it hit many a politician – think of Fudge – I don't know. However, I also wouldn't completely rule out a real curse or other spell ..."

He hesitated. "Sometimes she is still the same as before, but more and more often, there are situations in which I hardly recognise her. Albus has a very keen sense, anyway I think he's a good judge of character for his age. His mind is maturing rapidly without losing the fine antennae with which children sense vibrations. That's why I also tend to have confidence in him when he, as he's writing, 'vouches for MacAllister'. Hermione thinks he's a Death Eater who's just too sneaky to let anyone peer over his shoulder and wants to involve our Albus in his plans."

"A Death Eater?" asked Ginny, horrified.

"I think anyone who doesn't share her views is a Death Eater to her."

Ginny thought. "But you still agree that this friendship is a little odd, don't you?"

"Yes, I do, and that's why I'm going to check up on what's going on at Hogwarts. For that's what I agreed upon with Hermione: As long as no one is doing anything unlawful, my hands are tied as an Auror, so I will first get an unofficial and private picture of the situation at Hogwarts. I am going there this very evening, and I'll do so incognito."

"Incognito?" asked Ginny, aghast. "You are known all over the place!"

"What am I the proud owner of a Invisibility Cloak for?" grinned Harry.

Ginny looked at him half indulgently, half spitefully: "Well, sure, and when we're there, we'll indulge in our old hobby of haunting Hogwarts at night under the Invisibility Cloak, right?" Harry's grin widened. "Can't you age with dignity, you big kid?"

But she had to laugh.

Harry pulled the Marauder's Map out of his cloak. He had been carrying it with him all the time since they had left Hogwarts, even though he had never really needed it in the meantime. Now he took a quick, targeted look at it. "McGonagall is still in her office. I definitely need to talk to her."

"How do you want to go? Through the fireplace straight into her office?"

"Such a raid would not be very polite, and besides, I would have to lift the protection first. As Head of the Auror Department, I'm allowed to do that, but I'm travelling privately. No, I'll Apparate outside the castle grounds and then walk into the castle under the cloak. First, I'll talk to James before he goes to bed, then I'll meet McGonagall. Knowing her, she will be in her office until at least ten o'clock. Don't wait for me, it may be late."

"Aren't you going to eat something first?", Ginny asked him, worried.

"Thank you, but the day has taken its toll on me. I really couldn't eat anything now."

He pocketed the Marauder's Map again and kissed his wife, who hardly wanted to let go of him.

"Darling," he said tenderly, "everything's going to be all right."

Ginny nodded while Harry disappeared under his Invisibility Cloak. The typical sound told her that he had Disapparated.